The Arctic-type conditions ensured a slow start to the High Skills Pool recruitment fair in Dublin's RDS yesterday.

However, a few hardy individuals braved the ice and snow to be there as the doors opened at 10 o'clock.

"Weather will not stop the ex-pat who is actively seeking a job," said Ms Caroline Leacy, managing director of the recruitment company, The High Skills Pool.

The fair is specifically, but not exclusively, targeted at emigrants visiting Ireland for the Christmas holidays.

"Previously, it was marketed strictly at the ex-pats, but we always got a contingent from the home market," said Ms Leacy. "So this year we have actively gone after the home market. Christmas is the only time of year when you get the ex-pat community coming back in large numbers. For the home market, it is that time of year when people make new resolutions, look for new careers, challenges and opportunities."

It was a point which was not lost on some of the firms participating in the fair.

"Apart from people coming home, Christmas is a time when people reassess where they are and it is a time when many make a change and certainly we have benefited from people with those mindsets in the past," said Ms Eileen Slamon, recruitment manager at Bank of Ireland IT Solutions. "Attendance at High Skills Pool events in the past has been very good for us. We've recruited some very good people and we're hoping for the same again over the next two days."

More than 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the fair between yesterday and today. Fairs are also taking place in Belfast and Cork. Around 90 of the State's top employers, including Intel, Dell Computers, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Xilinx and WBT Systems, are recruiting at the fair.

"The fairs allow employers to meet face to face with employees in a focused and friendly environment which benefits all," said Ms Leacy.

Most companies were adopting a two-strand approach - actively recruiting and raising the profiles of their organisations.

"We're here primarily to brand build and start looking for the main staff requirement for next year," said Mr Declan Carville, recruitment manager at Lucent Technologies.

Xerox resourcing manager, Ms Avril Dowling said: "The market is so buoyant at the moment, if you're not at different events and you're not profiling the company, you're losing out. We have a certain amount of hires to make this year and we're trying to achieve those targets. We're hoping to make some hires from here."

Others, particularly the smaller companies, viewed it as a cost effective method of recruiting employees.

"For the quality of people we're looking for, it's cheaper than going to a recruitment agency. They would be looking for 30 per cent of the salary in the first year. If we get one or more people at the show today, it will have paid for itself," said Mr Paul Cunningham of IT company IIMC, which is planning to double staff to 20 employees in the coming year.

Quality and manufacturing engineering manager at Xilinx, Mr John Kirwan agreed. "When you weigh up the cost versus the charges you pay to agencies, it's good. Having a presence is also very important," he said.

However, one recruitment manager said recruitment fairs could often be a triumph of quantity over quality. "You can get a lot of CVs that aren't useful and you end up going through a lot of CVs for a small number of hires. It's not the easiest way to get people. But if you get two or three, it's worth it. It's a PR exercise as well."

Overall, the reactions of those attending the fair were mixed.

"It is always being said there's a huge skills shortage but it's only in certain areas such as IT and consultancy. Having spoken to some of the people at the stands, if your skill set doesn't match what they want, they don't seem interested," said Mr Eoin Hayden.

"I thought it was going to be much larger, but the companies that are here are very well-prepared," said final year student Ms Darragh McKeon.

South African national Mr Reinhard Lombard said: "I was at last year's show which was very good and this one looks alright. There's a lot of companies and a lot of jobs out there."

The curiosity factor was a major reason many people turned up.

"I'm looking around with a view to coming home in two to three years time. I'm more or less seeing what skills people are looking for now," said UK-based Mr Padraig McEvoy.

"We're here to see what's available, to see what the money is like and, if the work is there, maybe we'll think about coming back," said Ms Olive Mooney who attending the fair with her husband John.